A bill proposed by Alabama State Senator Del Marsh would allow parents to open an ESA (education savings account) and receive $6500 in state funding if they choose to home school, send their children to private school, or send them to another school district.
The plan would be integrated over a 3 year period and an oversight committee would be named to monitor education programs accepting the students. Local school boards would be able to choose whether to accept transfers into their system.
“These are state dollars and those dollars should be available to parents to decide what is best for their children,” said Marsh in an interview with Alabama Daily News.
The money for this program would come out of the education trust fund (ETF). The ETF is underfunded as it is which could be problematic in the future.
Bill Breakdown
- Would be implemented no later than July 1, 2022
- To be elegible for the 2022-2023 school year students must be enrolled in public school, Home Schooled, or entering kindergarten.
- For the 2023-2024 school year, in addition to those students enrolled in and attending public school, being home schooled, or entering kindergarten, any otherwise eligible student, who is enrolled in and attending a nonpublic school and whose family had an adjusted gross income up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level for the preceding tax year, may apply for participating student status for that school year.
- For the 2024-2025 school year, and thereafter any student may apply for participating student status for the immediately succeeding school year, regardless of income.
- Applications would be available no later than May 1, 2022
- Parents will sign an agreement promising to maintain requirements for the account.
- An application for an education savings account is confidential and not a public record subject to release.
- Any funds remaining in an education savings account at the end of a fiscal year may be carried over to the next fiscal year upon successful renewal of the education savings account.
- Funds deposited are not taxable income.
Education Savings Account Requirements
- Provide an education for the eligible recipient in at least the subjects of reading, language, mathematics, science, and social studies.
- Use education savings account funds exclusively for qualifying expenses.
- Afford the participating student opportunities for educational enrichment including, but not limited to, organized athletics, art, music, and literature.
Qualifying Expenses
- Ongoing services provided by a public school district pursuant to Section 9 including, but not limited to, individual classes and extracurricular activities and programs.
- Tuition or fees, or both, at a participating school.
- Tutoring services provided by an individual or a tutoring facility. Tutoring services may not be provided by an immediate family member of the participating student.
- Fees for nationally standardized tests, advanced placement examinations, any examinations related to college or university admission, and tuition or fees, or both, for preparatory courses for the assessments or exams in the same manner as these fees are paid by the parents of nonparticipating public school students.
- Tuition or fees, or both, for programs of study or the curriculum of vocational courses, including, but not limited to, courses that lead to an industry recognized credential that satisfies a workforce need.
- Tuition or fees, or both, for nonpublic online learning programs.
- Tuition or fees, or both, for alternative education programs.
- Fees for after school or summer education programs.
- Educational services and therapies including, but not limited to, occupational, behavioral, physical, speech-language, and audiology therapies.
- Curriculum.
- Any other qualified expenses approved by the board.
Service Providers Revieving Payments
- Submit a notice of intent to participate in the program to the treasurer.
- Provide participating parents with a receipt for all qualifying education expenses for a participating student.
- Agree not to refund, rebate, or share education savings account funds with parents or students in any manner.
- Certify that the education service provider will not discriminate.
- Agree to require any employee who will have contact with a participating student to submit to a criminal history background check.
- A participating school or education service provider is not required to alter its creed, practices, admission policy, tuition, fees, hiring policy, or curriculum in order to accept eligible recipients whose parents pay tuition or fees from an education savings account pursuant to the act.
You can download the full bill below.
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